The UK saw a 7% increase in the availability of professional jobs in the three months to 31 October,
finance.co.uk’s Gregory Dy reports, quoting new figures from recruitment firm Robert Walters.
The biggest growth has been in the availability of supply chain accounting roles, which is up 15% on 2016, driven by a need to prepare for a post-Brexit world.
“Supply chain and procurement professionals have been highly sought after as employers explore how they can access new markets and establish efficient supply chain processes following Britain’s departure from the EU,” Chris Hickey, chief executive of Robert Walters’ UK, Middle East and Africa division, is quoted as saying.
The availability of tax, legal and finance jobs is also up, mainly due to the need for specialist workers to help comply with increased regulation. This has been a factor behind a continued recruitment drive across financial services firms in general.
Finance.co.uk article
High demand for finance professionals in the UAE The UAE is also seeing high demand for accounting and finance professionals, particularly across the real estate, construction, professional services and healthcare industries.
Reporting on the latest findings from the
Robert Half UAE 2018 salary guide, Staffing Industry Analysts says one of the top three roles in demand is for tax managers, needed by large companies that are preparing for the implementation of VAT, set to come into force on 1 January 2018. Smaller companies are looking for financial planning and analysis directors and credit controllers.
In the UAE financial services sector, compliance officers, anti-money laundering specialists and Mergers & Acquisition professionals are in high demand. Some 80% of banks in the country are also looking for professionals with good analytical skills to help them implement blockchain projects, and prevent and respond to cyber crime. In fact, technological advances, in general, will help to shape the staffing landscape in 2018, the Robert Half report says.
Staffing Industry Analysts article
Singapore launches ambitious financial services planIn Singapore, the government has set an ambitious target to create 3,000 jobs in the financial services sector over the next three years and an additional 1,000 jobs in the fintech sector every year, up to 2020.
The plans, reported by Monica Kotwani in
Channel NewsAsia, are part of an
Industry Transformation Map (ITM) for the financial services sector, launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The ITM initiative is expected to deliver 4.3% GDP growth each year over the medium term, which is nearly twice as fast as the overall economy.
4,000
The number of jobs that will be created In Singapore for financial services and fintech
In addition to jobs growth, the ITM will seek to ensure workers continue to upgrade their skills and remain relevant amidst a wave of technological disruption in the sector.
“With digitalisation and automation, job roles will evolve, and existing professionals must be equipped with new skills and competencies,” Kotwani reports MAS Board member Ong Ye Kung as saying.
“How do we address the challenge of talent and skills? The answer cannot be poaching … we simply have to expand and deepen the talent pool.”
The ITM will facilitate collaboration between financial services firms and the education sector to train new entrants and mid-career job seekers in the new skills required to work in a technology-driven financial services sector.
In recent times, developments such as technological disruption and Brexit have stoked fears of huge job losses in financial services, but if latest figures from recruitment firms and announcements such as those from the Singaporean government are anything to go by, these fears may be unfounded.
Channel NewsAsia article
Seen a blog, news story or discussion online that you think might interest CISI members? Email jake.matthews@wardour.co.uk.